Chapter 59
I’ll translate the chapter into natural English and keep all system text in styled HTML blocks, while preserving the chapter’s pacing and paragraph structure.CHAPTER_TITLE: What Kind of Situation Is This?
I had no idea what kind of situation this was.
My eyes rolled in utter disbelief at the completely unexpected scene before me.
...Isn’t that Ms. Irene?
Hale Irene. America’s strongest superhuman, the strongest in the world, stood right in front of me.
And then there was—
Yu Seongin?
The man kneeling before her, Yu Seongin, lay crumpled on the ground like a sack of bloodied meat, writhing in pain.
“...You there.”
Irene’s voice, lower than usual, coiled around my ears.
“Y-yes?”
“...Have you lost your mind?”
“Pardon?”
Rough words spilled from Irene’s mouth. I flinched. No doubt about it.
She’s angry?
Her face looked far angrier than usual. Normally, it would have been hard to tell.
Hero's Super-sensory has activated.
As the skill activated, I could read her expression.
“...I let you go because you said you’d be right back. And this is what I get?”
Her tone made it clear she didn’t understand the situation. Well. Neither did I.
“Um... Ms. Irene, how did you end up here...?”
“...What?”
The air shifted slightly at my words. It turned heavy. It felt like my shoulders were being pressed down.
“...You sent me that text, then ask me why?”
“Text...? Ah.”
She meant the message saying she’d gotten held up and couldn’t come back right away.
“That was... I got hit with something, so I said it might take a while...”
I’d sent that because I had to report in first, but it seemed that was the problem.
“...Do you not know what state you’re in right now?”
“...That... is...”
“...Looks like everyone else around you does.”
Irene glanced around. I saw the members of the investigation team standing stiff as boards, and the suited men nearby watching in deathly silence.
“...How interesting...”
“...R-really?”
“...So.”
Then Irene looked at me and asked,
“...What happened?”
Her tone said plainly that if I didn’t speak properly, she’d tear me apart.
“...”
Watching her, I began explaining. It wasn’t a long one.
“...A terrorist...”
Yu Seongin had been connected to terrorists, and I had come here to raid them in cooperation with the investigation team. Then the Rift appeared and everything went sideways.
At that, Irene asked me,
“...Where is that terrorist?”
The terrorist I had gone in with—she was asking what had happened to him. I hesitated.
What do I do?
If I said I’d handled an S-class superhuman inside the Rift, it would sound suspicious.
“...He fled during the fight.”
“...Fled?”
“Yes... I fought him as hard as I could, but in the middle of it he ran away. That’s how I got out.”
I covered it up by saying I’d lost him in battle. Irene stared at me for a long moment.
“You mean that?”
“...Yes. I mean i-”
Hologram of Korka has activated.
The gaze of the inhuman can be felt.
The power is weaker than the Four Seasons Gods. The hologram prevents it from piercing through the truth.
—n’t.
I swallowed dryly as I looked at the system text. It was just like the first time I’d faced Irene. This time, too, she seemed to have tried something on me.
“...Hmm...”
After hearing my answer, Irene tilted her head.
“...I see.”
It looked like I’d gotten away with it. That confirmed it.
Irene can see through lies, but...
She can’t get past my skill.
It didn’t seem to work on me, not with a skill above hers interfering.
“...Anyway.”
Irene’s gaze shifted to Yu Seongin, reduced to a bloodied heap.
“...This is the one related to the terrorist?”
This one.
Not exactly the kind of word you’d use to describe a person, but when Irene said it, somehow it fit.
“...”
She lifted Yu Seongin’s chin with her staff.
“Urgh...”
Perhaps because it hurt, Yu Seongin let out a groan. Then Irene’s staff glowed softly. Golden light wound around it in an instant, and just as something seemed about to happen—
Chiiiiiiik---!!!!
A green Rift split open in the air.
What?
Don’t tell me.
For a moment I wondered if another terrorist was about to crawl out of it, but then—
Fzzzzt---!!!!
Blue lightning burst from the opened Rift.
And then—
“...Haa.”
Someone stepped out from within it.
It was Jin Yeonhui.
“...This damn thing.”
Her face was thoroughly twisted, her expression thick with exhaustion.
Ah, right.
Yeonhui had been dragged into that same unknown space, just like Irene.
Thankfully, she seemed to have escaped safely.
Yeonhui ran a hand through her somewhat disheveled hair, then turned her head.
And once she spotted me—
“Lee Jinwoo...!”
“Huh?”
“Are you okay?”
“...That’s not really something you should be asking me.”
At this rate, I was the one who should have been asking Yeonhui whether she was okay.
“Ah, that bastard... no, the terrorist?”
“...That’s handled too.”
“What?”
Her eyes widened when I said that.
Then she noticed Irene as well.
“...Irene?”
“...”
After confirming it was Yeonhui too, Irene let out a sigh.
Shhhhhh.
The staff that had been shedding light slowly dimmed.
“...Let’s sort this out first.”
Irene said that to the investigation team.
At her words, the team leader, Kwak Yeoncheol, reacted immediately.
“...We’ll escort you to the Association at once.”
* * *
Gwangju branch of the Superhuman Association.
In terms of stationed forces, it ranked fourth among the branches of the Korean Superhuman Association.
Gwangju saw frequent Rifts, and superhuman-related incidents happened here more often than in other places, which was why so many personnel were deployed here.
“...Thank you for your help.”
We entered the building. It was my first time in the Gwangju branch. No—come to think of it, outside of Incheon and Seoul, this was the first time I’d been anywhere else.
“We were able to suppress the situation thanks to all of you. Thank you, truly.”
Kwak Yeoncheol bowed his head. It was awkward as hell.
...Calling it our help is a stretch.
In truth, it felt more like Irene had come alone and handled everything. Yeonhui reacted the same way. It had been the same for her, after all—she’d been dragged into it too.
“...We’ve confirmed the evidence and circumstances showing that Yu Seongin tried to deal with the investigation team. We’re working with the police to make the arrest now. However...”
Kwak Yeoncheol’s eyes turned to me.
“As for the matter you mentioned, Sir Lee Jinwoo... it may take some time before we can fully verify it.”
What I’d told them—that was...
About Yoon Yeon.
Seong Jiyeon. The name Yoon Yeon had used while posing as a member of the investigation team.
I had already said a few things about her.
It was practically an excuse, really.
During the fight, her mask slipped a little.
And when I saw her face underneath... it was Seong Jiyeon.
That was the gist of it.
“...Team Leader.”
One of the investigation team members approached Kwak Yeoncheol and said,
“...We checked the bodies, but Ms. Jiyeon was the only one missing.”
“...”
Maybe you could call that confirmation. At the report, the large hand of Kwak Yeoncheol clenched into a fist.
Crush.
The emotion in that tightened fist was plain enough to feel.
“...I’m sorry. I was a little out of it.”
“Not at all.”
Hero's Super-sensory has activated.
Having my senses sharpen was not always a good thing.
Because the betrayal that man was feeling was coming straight at me.
“We’ll need to verify this part a little more carefully and then report it in order. I think we should also relay it to headquarters.”
“...A terrorist inside the organization, huh...”
Irene said it. I swallowed dryly.
“...You already knew, so I’m not exactly surprised.”
She sounded calm. Too calm, in fact.
“...Hmm...”
Irene stretched her arms and stood up.
“...Work’s all sorted...”
Sorted? Since when did she call it done?
I didn’t even get the chance to say anything.
“...Let’s go.”
Irene was usually like this.
She didn’t care about anything else at all. Her attitude was that, since the matter had been resolved, there was no reason to stay any longer.
“Understood.”
And I was in no position to order her around.
She had definitely helped me.
The problem was—
“...Ah, but.”
“...?”
“...There’s somewhere I need to stop by before we leave.”
Irene’s face creased, but she didn’t object.
* * *
“...Excuse me?”
It was a little after nine in the evening when I headed to Tae Yongjin’s enchantment shop.
“Yu Seongin got caught?”
“Yes. We’re on our way back from the Association right now after arresting him.”
“Ah... ah, how...?”
“We got lucky. He went and did something stupid on his side.”
At the news that Yu Seongin had been caught, relief flickered across Tae Yongjin’s face.
“...Ah...”
“You can relax now.”
“Thank you... truly.”
“No. I didn’t really do anything.”
That was the truth.
Or so I thought.
“Then... there’s just one thing I wanted to tell you.”
After greeting him, I was about to head straight back outside.
Then—
“Ah! Wait a moment...!”
Tae Yongjin stopped me.
“Yes?”
Wondering what was up, I looked at him.
“Please take this.”
“Huh?”
Tae Yongjin handed something over to me. Hm, this was...
◈ The fourth fragment of Angel's Silver Crystal (SS).
◈ Current bound user: Tae Yongjin.
It was the relic Yu Seongin had been trying to take.
“...Why are you giving this to me?”
“I don’t know what significance this relic holds... But if Yu Seongin was trying to get his hands on it, then it must be important.”
“...Even so, there’s even less reason to hand it to me.”
“Just possessing it seems dangerous enough... and if possible, I think it would be better to entrust it to the knights.”
“...”
“Would you please take care of it for me?”
He was saying that if keeping it himself would only put him in danger, he’d rather turn it over to the state.
Taeyongjin wishes to transfer ownership of Silver Crystal Fragment 4.
Will you accept?
They said I couldn’t take it unless the bound user gave it up.
They’d also said that if he died, that would be a problem.
Then—
If I take it and hand it over to the Association?
It seemed like Tae Yongjin didn’t know, but whatever it was, this was an SS-class relic.
Honestly...
It might be better to give it to the state than to keep it myself. The fact that Yu Seongin had already set his sights on it meant—
there was a high chance his company or the terrorists already knew about it.
If that was the case, it would become dangerous.
“...Understood. I’ll take it. In return, please make sure the news that you entrusted this relic to a knight gets spread around.”
“Ah... yes, of course.”
Tae Yongjin seemed to have figured out what I was after. I accepted the relic, and then—
Ownership of Silver Crystal Fragment 4 has been transferred.
Bound user: Tae Yongjin > Lee Jinwoo.
Hologram of Korka is manifesting.
The true trait contained within Silver Crystal Fragment 4 is appearing.
Ownership has been transferred four times.
A special effect is activating.
Silver Crystal Fragment seeks the other fragments.
The Four Seasons God angel Etem has taken interest in the one who bears the fragment.
Because ownership has changed hands four times, no further transfer of ownership is possible.
“...What?”
It seemed like something had gone very, very wrong.